


With the Sun on the Horizon

by dreamkist



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Case Fic, Desert, Diners, Driving, Fairies, Gen, Saving People Hunting Things, Supernatural Summergen Fic Exchange 2017, Western
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 05:39:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12029322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamkist/pseuds/dreamkist
Summary: Claire visits a New Mexico town to investigate a death and disappearance.





	With the Sun on the Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the prompt of fairy rings in a southwestern desert. I thought it would be nice to see Claire have a successful solo hunt.
> 
> For [stargazingchola](https://stargazingchola.livejournal.com/) in SPN Summergen.

Claire was sitting outside a cafe, drinking a coffee and looking online for anything that might be a case. She had been keeping an eye out for suspicious deaths, disappearances, or things that sounded odd. There wasn’t much of interest, but she came across a news piece about an incident in a New Mexico town that had happened over a month ago. A man was found dead and another was missing:

> One man, Walter M., was found dead at the scene. He died at about 2:00 a.m. Sunday. Authorities say it was an accident caused by a falling tree. The other man, James R., is missing. Both men’s vehicles were found at the scene. James hasn’t been seen or heard from since. If you have any information about the disappearance please come forward.

It might not be anything, but she decided she might as well check it out. If nothing else, the drive would be good. She wanted to see the desert. She imagined it as a lonely place to be, and something about that called to her.

+++

She drove all day on long highways and stopped to rest at night. It felt like the air revived her as she got further south. The plains gradually turned into a hilly and rocky landscape. The sun seemed to give a yellow tint to everything.

It was evening when she entered the town. It was a small place, but spread out, built around the highway. It seemed like most of the businesses lined it. She saw a sign for a diner that she would be visiting first thing in the morning.

A motel sign half-heartedly flashed. Red letters announced vacancy. She pulled off the highway and came to a stop in front of the office. It was painted in bright colors; it seemed as good a place as any to stay. The twilit sky was purple up above as she walked to the office. The lady behind the desk slid the key to Claire without any questions asked.

She left the office and grabbed her bag from the car. Then she found the door to her room. It was dark inside, and the ac felt good after the long drive without it. She threw the bag on the bed, found a lamp to turn on, and headed for the shower.

+++

Outside, the next morning, she got a better look at the town. It was pretty flat, except for a hill to the west that was sprinkled with trees. Along the road creosote grew low to the ground. The sun seemed to wash everything out, leaving only those hints of green.

She drove down the road to the diner she had seen the day before. It wasn’t much cooler inside than it was outside. She slid into an old booth with its cracked vinyl and waited.

A waitress approached and smiled at her. “Hi, sugar, I’m Pam. What can I get for you?”

“Coffee and pancakes. And some hash browns,” she added.

Pam grinned, “Coming up.” She went back to the kitchen.

The smell of food made Claire even hungrier. Life on the road did make you miss home-cooked meals. While she waited, she put the notebook she had brought on the table and flipped through the pages. She had taken to writing down her research in it. Hopefully she would have something to add to it if this turned out to be a real case.

Pam came back with the coffee. As she poured it she asked, “So what brings you to town?”

“I’m just driving through. Needed some room to think.”

“I hear that, sweetheart,” she said in agreement.

The waitress left again, and Claire casually looked around the diner, taking in the few people who were there. An older woman and man sat at the counter, sometimes talking over their coffees and newspapers. Two other people were eating their breakfasts.

Pam brought her breakfast out, and Claire decided to see if she knew anything about the death and disappearance she was there to investigate. “Did something bad happen around here?” she asked. “I heard some people talking about someone going missing.”

Pam looked around before saying, “There was an incident up at Wander Hill one night about a month ago. Old Walter was killed, a tree fell on him, and another man went missing.”

Claire widened her eyes. “Oh, that’s so sad. Do you know what they were doing there?”

“Well, I heard Walter was trying to build a new house up there. It wasn’t too popular an idea,” she said with raised eyebrows. “He wanted to show off. Everyone would have to look at his house sitting on the hill. The town was trying to stop him; they wouldn’t give approval to cut any trees down. Some sort of heritage thing.”

“Did Walter and James know each other?” Claire asked.

“James worked for him sometimes. Now _he_ was a nice man,” she said in reference to James. “He was always helping people out.”

Claire knew she would need to talk to someone who knew them, so she asked, “Did they have families around here?”

“Walter? No. But James, he did have a friend, Luis. He works over at the garage.”

Claire would have to go talk to Luis. “Where is the garage? I should probably have my car looked at after driving all this way.”

“Go left out of here and take the first right. Garage is on the right - you can’t miss it.”

“Great! Thanks,” she said, with a smile. She looked down at the food on her plate, “I’m so hungry.”

Pam laughed and left her to eat.

When she was finished she went outside, got in her car, and headed for the garage.

+++

It really was impossible to miss. The garage was covered in rows of hubcaps shining in the sun. She pulled up to the building and got out. A mechanic walked up to her.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Yeah, my car is making some sound. Like a belt or something. I was wondering if someone could look at it.” The belts were fine, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Sure thing.”

“Is there someone named Luis who works here? Is he around?” she asked, as if it were an afterthought.

“He’s in the office.” He nodded towards it. “You can go on in there.”

Claire thanked him and walked to the door. Bells that were tied to it jangled as she pushed it open. A man was sitting behind the cluttered desk. She had caught him with his head bowed, and he was rubbing his hands over his face. When he heard the bells, he stopped and jerked his head up to look at her.

“Hi,” she greeted.

“What can I do for you?” He looked like he was trying to smile but wasn’t quite getting there. His voice sounded weary.

“I’m having my car looked at.” She tilted her head back toward the door. “The guy out there said I could come in.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he said. He gestured to the two chairs in the room for waiting customers. She took a seat in one of them.

He didn’t look like he was interested in talking, but she needed to find out more about James. “I’m just driving through,” she tried, but he didn’t say anything. She was going to have to be more straightforward. “I was talking to someone at the diner and heard about an accident on the hill.” She saw him flinch slightly as she spoke. “Did you know the people involved?”

He took a breath and said, “I knew one of them. James.” He paused. “He was… He meant a lot to me.”

“When was the last time you heard from him?”

“The day before he disappeared,” he said. He looked down at the desk. “He was telling me about Walter’s plans. Said Walter wanted him to help cut down a tree that was in the way. James didn’t want to do it. He didn’t like killing things.” He stood up abruptly and said, “Sorry, I’ve gotta go.”

“That’s ok,” she started to say, but he was already gone.

+++

Wander Hill was to the west of the town. After trying to talk to Luis, Claire drove as far as she could in that direction - until the road ended. Then she had to get out and walk. The sparse trees were short, and they didn’t cast much shadow with the sun almost directly overhead. As she approached the top of the hill she noticed some big, white mushrooms in a cluster. There was still police tape limply hanging from one of the trees. It trailed on the ground by the mushrooms.

She was good and sweaty when she made it to the site. She took a moment to catch her breath. She looked back to see there was a good view of the town from up there. She turned to look farther west and saw open desert. Then she brought her attention back to the task at hand and located the spot where the tree had stood.

Blood had soaked into the stump. The felled tree must have been sawed into pieces and taken away. She tried to examine the ground, but many feet had stirred the dirt around.

As she looked over the rest of the hill she saw more of those mushrooms. They had cracked the ground where they pushed up through the dirt. There were more a few feet away. She made a ring around the hill, following them.

It was kind of odd. They seemed to perfectly encircle the hilltop. She had read about fairy rings, of course, in kid’s stories. It might be a stretch, but at least now she had a lead.

She was going to have to find out if fairies were real.

+++

After doing research on fairy lore late into the night, she had discovered that they were, indeed, real. A fairy ring was usually left where a fairy had entered the world. Some fairies were to known to attack humans who had disturbed their territory. If the tree had been important to them that could have been what caused the fairy to attack.

There were also a lot of references to them taking people into the fairy world. It occurred to her that might have been what happened to James since he wasn’t the one actually cutting the tree down. Maybe he was still alive. Maybe she could save him.

_If_ she could get the fairy to reappear. She had read that fairies like shiny things as offerings, so she could try drawing it back with something like her compact mirror.

Claire went back to the diner for lunch. She had written all of the information she had found down in her notebook. She was looking over it when she heard the door open. She looked up and saw that it was Luis coming in.

He spotted her and gave a slight wave. He hesitated a moment then came over to her booth. “Is it alright if I sit?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said. She watched him slide in and wondered what he wanted. He looked uncomfortable, so she said, “Sorry about yesterday. I was being nosy.”

He shook his head and said, “No. It’s ok. It’s just hard to think about it.”

“Yeah, I get that.” After a pause she added, “I’ve lost important people too.”

He looked in her eyes and nodded. “James was always there. Now he’s gone.” He sighed and continued, “I don’t know where he could have gone. He wouldn’t just leave, and I’m not getting any answers.”

“That’s hard. When someone goes away, and you don’t understand why,” she watched as condensation ran down her glass. “Do the police have any idea where he could be?”

At that question he let out a huff of air and asked, “What do you think?”

“That’s a no, then,” she said. “So, what was he like?”

“He was always trying to do what was right. Like with this - trying to stop Walter from damaging the old trees.”

“What’s so special about the trees?”

“I’m not sure. There are these stories grandparents tell about little people on the hill. Stuff about bad things happening to people who wander up there,” he explained.

“Sounds like a fairy tale,” she replied.

+++

Claire went back to her room after she had finished lunch and said bye to Luis. She gathered what she would need for going back to the hill and trying to summon the fairy. She had a knife made of iron that, if she needed to use it, could kill the creature. She also packed a jacket, flashlight, the mirror, and some bottled water into her bag.

The issue was going to be getting the fairy to show itself. The tree had already been killed, and the fairy had already gotten revenge.  
She would have to try offering the mirror and hope it would be drawn back to this world.

+++

She made it back to the site in the evening. She opened the mirror and set it on the tree stump. She sat down on a nearby rock, and she waited. And waited. Her mind wandered while she sat there watching the sun sink lower and lower on the horizon. The sounds of crickets and other insects filled the air as the sun left the sky.

She had waited for at least an hour when she heard the crunching sounds of someone approaching behind her. She snapped back to alertness and grasped the knife tightly in one hand, ready for whatever was there. She stood up and spun around while switching the flashlight on with the other hand.

It was Luis. 

A bright light shone in her face too and made her eyes squeeze shut. They both lowered their lights from each other’s faces.

“Claire? What are you doing out here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she stalled. She needed to think of a reason for being there.

“I saw your car parked at the end of the road. I thought I would see what you were doing. And, I haven’t been up here yet,” he said honestly. “Your turn.”

Before she could start making up an answer a loud crack sounded behind them. It was like the sound of lightning. Claire knew it must be the fairy.

“You need to leave,” she ordered Luis, but an invisible force threw them both off their feet. She hit the ground hard but got back to her feet before he did. She scanned the hill with her light, but couldn’t see any sign of the fairy.

“Ok, fairy,” she began talking, “I know your tree was killed. I would be mad too.” She tried to sound sincere and contrite and hoped it would listen.

A low sound came from behind a large rock. She shone the light on it and slowly approached it. The fairy was hiding behind the rock, peeking at her. It was only about three feet tall. It had brown skin, a round belly, and long arms and legs. Its intelligent eyes carefully watched her.

“Give us another tree,” it said. Claire jumped at its voice. It was stronger than she was expecting. She also noticed it had very pointy teeth. It was obviously a powerful being despite its size.

Another crack filled the air after it spoke; the fairy disappeared right in front of her.

Luis had gotten to his feet while she was trying to talk to the fairy, and he looked at her in bewilderment. “What the hell was that?” he asked, incredulous.

“Let’s talk,” she said.

+++

Ok, let me see if I’ve got this straight. Fairies and whatever else exist, and people like you go around hunting them?”

“That’s pretty much it, yeah,” Claire agreed. He seemed to be taking it pretty well, all things considered.

“And a fairy got mad because its tree was cut down, so it came into our world to get revenge?”

“Also correct,” she said.

“Now it wants us to grow another tree for it. Alright,” he said, mostly to himself. He was obviously trying to convince himself that this was real.

She hadn’t mentioned that there was a chance that James might still be alive. She didn’t want to get his hopes up. But if they could get a tree planted maybe James would be returned.

Luis reached down and picked something up from the ground and held it out for her to see. It was a small pine cone.

“These have the piñon seeds; that’s the tree that was cut down. Try to find some more. We can plant the seeds,” he explained.

She and Luis found a couple more of the cones scattered around the hill. He showed her how to tap the seeds loose by hitting the cones against a rock. They used their hands to dig into the ground around the old trunk and put the seeds in. Then they covered them over with dirt. Claire brought out her bottle of water, and they sprinkled it around the ground where they had put the seeds.

When that was finished they stood there looking at the ground. Luis broke the silence, “So… how do we know if it worked?”

Claire thought that was a pretty good question. Also one she didn’t have an answer for. Thankfully, as she started to worry, they heard the sound that announced the fairy’s arrival. This time though the fairy didn’t appear. Instead, a man appeared on the ground in front of them.

Claire dropped the water bottle she was still holding and bent down so she could get a better look at him. He was alive and looked unharmed. He _was_ confused and scared but otherwise ok.

Then she heard Luis’ shocked voice ask, “James?” He knelt down too and looked at the man.

The man who had appeared quietly said, “Luis.”

Luis lunged forward and wrapped him up in a tight hug.

Claire couldn’t help but smile as she watched them. This was an awesome outcome. James would definitely need some time to adjust to being back after that experience, but he had Luis to help him.

She suspected they would be alright.

+++

She had seen to the two men getting to Luis’ truck. Luis quietly thanked her. She was glad she was able to help them.

Back at the motel, Claire curled up on the bed and slept deeply for the rest of the night. She woke up early in the morning and started getting her things together. She would head to some other town and search for another case.

The sun was already blazing up above when she checked out and put her bag in the car. She got in behind the wheel and tucked her hair back behind her ear. As she drove out of town she looked at the hill in the distance one last time. She knew a tree would be growing there soon.

She drove on.


End file.
